Lecture One The Narrative Essay In this class, you will compose essays in several different modes. You should remember, though, that all academic writing - and most writing of all sorts - is argumentative. Every essay attempts to persuade its reader to accept some position: it has a thesis, in other words, whether explicit or implicit. And every essay defends that thesis with reasons - although sometimes the specific details of these reasons are left for the reader to figure out. A paper cannot help having a topic - a word that comes from the Greek word topos, which means place. Ancient Greek teachers of rhetoric thought of such organizing principles as places to stand while you spoke - as if a public speaker might say, “Now I will stand on The Iraq War,” “Now I will stand on Capital Punishment,” and so on. (Rhetoric is just another name for what we will study in this class - the art of writing and speaking persuasively.) But a topic is not enough. In academic writing, your observations about a topic must add up to an argument - a systematic defense of a particular thesis. As the semester progresses, we will get closer and closer to a traditional academic essay. We will start, however, with a narrative, the kind of essay that tells a story. That story should have a point - not a moral, necessarily, or an obvious lesson, but something to explain what makes the tale worth listening to. Here is how I would approach this first assignment: First, come up with a good story - something that seems interesting or amusing or provocative or moving to you. Second, tell that story as well as you can. Remember that concrete details are the key to making a narrative come alive for a reader. Third, once you have finished telling the story, ask yourself: Why makes this a good story? Why is it significant? Why is it engrossing? Somewhere in the answer to these questions you will find the thesis to your essay. Fourth, and finally, go back to your narrative and figure out what you need to add or change to make its full significance evident to the reader. You will probably want to state your thesis explicitly - but not necessarily at the beginning of the essay. In a narrative essay, it's often best to let your point emerge . . . If all goes well, these steps should lead you to a first-rate paper. You can find the link for Writing Assignment 1 at the top of this screen. Please let me know if you have any questions.
The Narrative Essay
In this class, you will compose essays in several different modes.
You should remember, though, that all academic writing - and most writing of all sorts - is argumentative. Every essay attempts to persuade its reader to accept some position: it has a thesis, in other words, whether explicit or implicit. And every essay defends that thesis with reasons - although sometimes the specific details of these reasons are left for the reader to figure out.
A paper cannot help having a topic - a word that comes from the Greek word topos, which means place. Ancient Greek teachers of rhetoric thought of such organizing principles as places to stand while you spoke - as if a public speaker might say, “Now I will stand on The Iraq War,” “Now I will stand on Capital Punishment,” and so on.
(Rhetoric is just another name for what we will study in this class - the art of writing and speaking persuasively.)
But a topic is not enough. In academic writing, your observations about a topic must add up to an argument - a systematic defense of a particular thesis.
As the semester progresses, we will get closer and closer to a traditional academic essay. We will start, however, with a narrative, the kind of essay that tells a story.
That story should have a point - not a moral, necessarily, or an obvious lesson, but something to explain what makes the tale worth listening to.
Here is how I would approach this first assignment:
First, come up with a good story - something that seems interesting or amusing or provocative or moving to you.
Second, tell that story as well as you can. Remember that concrete details are the key to making a narrative come alive for a reader.
Third, once you have finished telling the story, ask yourself: Why makes this a good story? Why is it significant? Why is it engrossing? Somewhere in the answer to these questions you will find the thesis to your essay.
Fourth, and finally, go back to your narrative and figure out what you need to add or change to make its full significance evident to the reader. You will probably want to state your thesis explicitly - but not necessarily at the beginning of the essay. In a narrative essay, it's often best to let your point emerge . . .
If all goes well, these steps should lead you to a first-rate paper.
You can find the link for Writing Assignment 1 at the top of this screen. Please let me know if you have any questions.